Will You Wait For Me?
by RemyCool
Summary: Phil promised Keely he would wait for her. In a strange way, he keeps that promise.


**Author's Note: I'm sure I'm not the only one who hated the ending of this show and, were it within my power, I would go back and give Phil and Keely a happy ending. However, since so many people on this site have already done exactly that, I decided to try a different take. A compromise, if you will between what we want and what the producers (a.k.a. the incompetent morons at Disney) gave us. I hope that you like it or at least find it interesting.**

**Legal disclaimer: I do not own the show or (some of) the characters. The story is the only thing that is mine and I share it freely (without profit of any kind) with the world.**

**Please rate and review.**

_In the future, will you wait for me?_

Those were the words that played in Phil Diffy's mind every day since he had returned to the future. He loved Keely with all his heart and hated to have to leave her behind. As soon as the Diffy's arrived in their own time, the first thing Phil did was look Keely up. It didn't take long to find her.

She had died thirty years ago.

At first, he was too stunned to speak. He spent two weeks locked in his room, only opening the door when Barb left food for him. Eventually, he realized the likelihood that Keely would live another one hundred and fifteen years was small to begin with. As much as he had wanted her to still be there, he accepted that fate had other ideas. Finally, he fired up his Giggle and looked her up again. His memories were all he had left of Keely and he at least wanted to know how her life had turned out.

Keely had graduated from Wells High and gone on to study journalism in college. She eventually landed a job as a researcher for CNN and worked her way up to becoming a foreign correspondent. Phil smiled to himself as he thought of Keely reporting from places like Moscow and Tokyo.

As he kept reading, he discovered that Keely eventually left CNN to become the host of a national morning show. He wondered why she would give up an exciting job until he saw that around the same time, she had gotten married. Phil was a little sad at this, but supposed it was good that she had moved on and found somebody to love. They had three children together and lived a happy life.

Keely retired some years later and disappeared from the public eye, settling down in Pickford to be close to her family and friends. She eventually passed away in 2091, having died of natural causes at the age of 101.

Phil closed the Giggle and sat in silence for what seemed like hours, thinking about Keely and the life she must have had. He was glad that she had lived a good life but wished he could have been a part of it. _Nothing to be done about it now, I suppose,_ he thought to himself. Keely wouldn't want him to feel sad. She would tell him to keep going and have his own adventures. Phil resolved to do just that.

He returned to his old life, readjusting to living in the 22nd century. He tried to make it like the old days with him and Keely, but it was a different time and a different world. One, he realized, he had no place in anymore, for he wasn't the same Phil Diffy that had left 2121 on a vacation in time with his family. It was a different world and he was a different person.

One night, he felt nostalgic and decided to visit his old home. He climbed on the skyak and zoomed off to Pickford. Aside from a few 22nd centure details, the town didn't look much different. He walked around for a while, taking in the sights and revisiting some of his favorite spots. Finally, his path led him to the Pickford Memorial Gardens.

Phil was reluctant to enter at first, but decided that he needed this. He needed to say goodbye to Keely. He needed closure. He went in and began to examine the headstones, finally finding hers towards the back of the cemetery under a large tree. He started to approach until he saw a small group of people around the grave. He hung back and watched from a distance as a middle aged woman laid a bouquet of flowers on the grave. She rejoined the others as they stood in silence for a few moments. Finally, they walked away, heading towards Phil. He simply stood to the side as they passed by. The woman who had laid the flowers said to the man holding her hand, presumably her husband, "I wish Grandma could see this place. It always looks so beautiful in the spring."

"You always take good care of this place, sweetheart. Your grandmother would be so proud of you. Come on. Let's go get dinner." The man turned to the last member of their group, a pretty brunette about Phil's age, and said, "Hurry up, Keely."

"Coming, Dad." The girl hurried to catch up, but stopped when she saw Phil. She smiled at him and said a quick hello. Phil smiled back and said his own hello. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Keely."

"I'm Phil. I'm not really from around here. I just came to visit an old friend. It's nice to meet you, though." He offered her his hand and she took it, shaking it. Phil could swear he felt a tingle up his arm as she touched his hand and couldn't help noticing that, aside from her hair color, she looked very much like his Keely.

The young girl smiled as she shook Phil's hand, only letting go when her father called again. "I've gotta go, but it was nice meeting you. Will I see you around?"

"If you'd like. Let me give you my number." They exchanged information and she left, waving at him as she ran off.

Phil smiled as he watched her leave, then turned to look at the gravestone. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a young blonde girl peeking out from behind the tree with a playful grin on her pretty face. He smiled and looked at the sky, feeling the sun on his face. "I kept my promise, Keely." He sighed and walked away.


End file.
